This puzzle:

Jacob McDermott notes: Initially I had TWODOOR as 45-down with CARFIRE symmetrically placed in the 4-down slot. This led to some uninspiring fill, a ... more

Jacob McDermott notes: Initially I had TWODOOR as 45-down with CARFIRE symmetrically placed in the 4-down slot. This led to some uninspiring fill, a change of plan, and the theme placement as you see it today. Thanks to Nancy Salomon for help on the development of this theme.

Jeff Chen notes: Congrats Jacob on your debut and excellent work coming up with such a cleanly-filled puzzle! A nice example of the 'both words can ... more

Jeff Chen notes: Congrats Jacob on your debut and excellent work coming up with such a cleanly-filled puzzle!

A nice example of the "both words can precede X" theme type. Note the "pinwheel" arrangement which typically allows for easier filling, since each themer has its own quasi-contained quadrant of the puzzle. The trade-off is that this pattern makes it more difficult to work in fun longer fill. Jacob has some nice stuff (ROTGUT, BATH OIL, MARBLES, VOODOO) but it's usually nice as a solver to get longer (8+ letters) fill.

Compare and contrast today's puzzle with last week's Tuesday. Similar theme types, but last week had more really good long fill with a higher overall difficulty level, while today's is likely more accessible to newer solvers. I'm glad to have both ends of the spectrum.

Finally, a tiny nit to pick. Even though the puzzle is squeaky-clean overall, the east section contains ARA, which I would love to see less of in early-week puzzles (GET IT? / AKA / GIN / BEDS could be an alternative). ARA isn't a "bad" entry, but I prefer for early-week puzzles to contain no "crosswordese" (answers seen much more frequently in crosswords than in real life), because for me, it provides a more elegant and satisfying solve.

This is a subjective matter though, since a case can be made for ARA being something people ought to know. As a further example of crosswordese's subjectivity, I'm perfectly fine with an answer that some constructors hate, OBI, because I've seen OBI on Japanese friends before. Now if it were ADIT (old term for a mine opening), the gloves would be coming off. =]